Noticing the mark at the corner of his eye and concentrating on it a little.
[You have merged with the shard of ****]
[The shard of **** attempts to take over the seed of **** in the deserter's body]
[Taking over the seed of Evolution, the shard of **** commences its attack on the remains of the Twilight Codex in the deserter's body]
[The shard of **** absorbs the remains of the Twilight Codex and the seed of Evolution]
[The shard of **** removes everything encroaching on the existence of the deserter and absorbs them]
[The shard of **** attempts to reboot the system and create a new one]
[….]
[..]
[Successful]
[Congratulations. The first-of-its-kind **** System has come into existence]
[Welcome, Host]
[Due to the shard of **** eliminating all the foreign traces left in the host and resetting the system, the host's broken abilities will undergo refinement]
[Due to the merging with the shard of ****, your abilities and attributes will be strengthened]
[Due to the incomplete absorption of the Nyxara cat's crystal core and judging it to be partially harmful to the host, the shard of **** will use the energy from the crystal core to strengthen the host's abilities]
[The **** system will try to reconstruct the host's abilities in the most optimal way]
[….]
[..]
[Successful]
Seeing the flurry of system messages in front of him, the first thing that came to Ellis's attention was how the window had turned gray. With growing expectations, he started to read them.
Reading the system messages and noticing how the name of the shard was hidden was irritating. "Is it some kind of bullshit where it needs me to become stronger first?" he thought. Trying not to pay it too much attention, he continued to read the rest of the messages.
"So, to summarize all those messages, I had something on me, and the gray shard took care of it, even becoming a new system and straightening me out." While thinking over the information he had read, Ellis was glad his last gamble was a success. Had he not taken the golden crystal of the Nyxara cat, it might still have been possible to touch the gray shard, but he doubted it would have been easy. Seeing how the benefit he got from the golden crystal, due to the timing, was not harmful, he couldn't be happier.
Seeing those system messages and remembering the messages that came while he was in the gate, Ellis couldn't help but feel the previous Twilight Codex system was more of a parasite than something meant to help others. Even though the new system seemed mysterious and didn't even reveal its name, maybe it was still better.
Bringing his attention to the messages again, the "welcome" message was bothering Ellis. He felt like it had become somewhat sentient, so while not expecting any reply, he tried to talk to it.
"So, can you talk now?"
[Yes, Host]
Seeing a new message appear, affirming his question and doubts, Ellis, while being surprised, thought about the questions and doubts he had, and asked.
"So, why the fuck is the name of the system hidden?"
[I don't have enough authority to know the answer to your question, but maybe it has some relationship with the shard of ** being too small.]
"Bullshit." Reading the answer, this was the first thing that came to Ellis's mind. Not saying it and thinking of the meaning behind the answer, he asked,
"Are you not the system?"
[No, due to the shard of ** being too small and having stayed in the area of the Twilight Codex's influence, it took on some of its characteristics. Then, after absorbing the remains of the Twilight Codex in you, as a result, I was born.]
"So what does that make you exactly?"
[A manager or low-level administrator of the **** system]
"Hmm, then what can you do exactly, and is there no voice function?"
[Other than answering some of your questions and directing some improvements when you can evolve the system, I can't do anything for the time being.]
[No, there's no voice function currently. But due to the special circumstances that gave me birth, and if you deem it appropriate, I could evolve a lot more in the future.]
"And how can I evolve the system exactly?"
[By absorbing other shards of ****]
"Then where are the other gray shards?"
[I don't know. If I sense them, I will tell you immediately.]
"So you are basically useless for now."
[...]
Seeing how it didn't respond this time, and thinking of what it had said before, Ellis changed the subject.
"You don't have a name, right?"
[No, I don't.]
Thinking of a feminine name for it and remembering the Twilight Codex, Ellis decided the name quickly.
"Then your name will be Aurora."
[The name 'Aurora' has been registered.]
"Okay, that aside. What about the new system? Does it have authority over me like the Twilight Codex?"
[No, due to the merging, the shard of **** has become a part of you. But as the system is a byproduct of it, while it will still belong to you, you also don't have any authority over it currently.]
"How the fuck does this work? Your answer means I have authority over the gray shard but I don't have authority over the system, which came from it. How is this possible?"
[Due to your current self being very weak, even though you have authority over the shard of ****, you can't even sense it, let alone control it.]
Reading the bullshit answer, Ellis, feeling enraged for the first time, asked,
"If I can't even fucking sense it, how the fuck did it merge with me?"
[Due to insufficient authority, I don't know the answer.]
"Fuck." Cursing a little and trying to calm down, Ellis tried to think of other things. Even though he couldn't sense the gray shard and try to control it, he still got a lot stronger because of it. He still remembered how the Twilight Codex system said it would put him on a list of something. So his current situation could still be dangerous, and the new system is his only ally.